Canada is the second-largest country in the world. It is a land of vast distances and rich natural beauty with plenty of tourist destinations. Transport Map of Canada features more than 1,400,000 kilometres (870,000 mi) of roads, 10 major international airports, 300 smaller airports, 72,093 km (44,797 mi) of functioning railway track, more than 300 commercial ports and harbours that provide access to the Pacific, Atlantic and Arctic oceans as well as the Great Lakes and the St. Lawrence Seaway.
Transport Canada is the department within the Government of Canada responsible for developing regulations, policies and services of road, rail, marine and air transportation in Canada. It is part of the Transportation, Infrastructure and Communities (TIC) portfolio. Transport Canada is headquartered in Ottawa, Ontario.
Road Transportation
There are more than 1.13 million two-lane equivalent lane kilometres of public road in Canada. About 40% of the road network is paved, while 60% is unpaved. It is the third-longest collection in the world, behind the Interstate Highway System of the United States and China’s National Trunk Highway System. Internationally, Canada has road links with both the lower 48 US states and Alaska. The Trans-Canada Highway system consists of 38,021 kilometres (23,625 mi) of roadway designated under one of three classes: Core Routes, Feeder Routes, and Northern and Remote Routes.
Rail Transportation
In 2007, Canada had a total of 72,212 km (44,870 mi) of freight and passenger railway, of which 31 km (19 mi) is electrified. The Canadian Rail System currently has 45,199 route-kilometres (km) of track and includes:
- 19 intermodal terminals operated by either Canadian National (CN) or Canadian Pacific (CP) to run truck/rail and container intermodal services and
- 27 rail border crossings with the U.S.
The Canadian National and Canadian Pacific Railway are Canada’s two major freight railway companies, each having operations throughout North America. Canada has railway links with the lower 48 US States, but no connection with Alaska.
Air Transportation
Canada is the third-largest aerospace sector in the world. The Air Navigation Service (NAV CANADA) manages Canada’s 15,000,000 km2 of airspace. The Canadian Airport System (NAS) includes:
- 26 airports in the National Airports System (NAS)
- 71 regional and local airports serving scheduled passenger traffic
- 31 small and satellite airports without scheduled passenger services
- 13 remote airports providing the only reliable year-round transportation link to isolated communities
- 11 Arctic airports (including the three territorial capital airports counted already in the NAS)
Marine Transportation
As of December 2016, Canada had:
- 559 port facilities
- 866 fishing harbours
- 129 recreational harbours
- 18 ports, including many of Canada’s major ports that are independently managed by Canada Port Authorities (CPAs).